Is Perry’s threatened veto a bribe?

Government watchdog group Texans for Public Justice filed a complaint with prosecutors claiming that Gov. Rick Perry has committed the crime of coercion — and perhaps bribery — by threatening to veto funds for a special investigative unit unless Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg resigns.

Perry’s office confirmed earlier this week that he plans to veto a $7.5 million item in the new state budget for the Public Integrity Unit, overseen by the Travis County D.A.’s office, unless Lehmberg resigns. Lehmberg pleaded guilty to a first-time driving-while-intoxicated charge in April, served jail time and took a personal leave to seek professional help.

Friday, Perry called TPJ’s letter “premature.”

“I’m going through a thoughtful process which I’ve done for many years here of looking at line item by line item, deciding what is appropriate,” he said.

Asked whether he’s disappointed that Lehmberg hasn’t resigned, Perry said, “We’re going to look at this budget, we’re going to make decisions about this budget, and Travis County is going to have to make a decision about whether or not they keep a district attorney who obviously has some real problems …”

The Public Integrity Unit is charged with investigating official corruption across the entire state, and has an ongoing investigation into charges of cronyism at the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.

Lehmberg already faces a civil suit attempting to remove her from office in Travis County; if it succeeds, or she resigns, Perry is responsible for naming a replacement .

“Gov. Perry has no legal authority to remove the Travis County district attorney from her job. Threatening to take an official action against her office,” said Craig McDonald, TPJ Director. The threat, he added, attempts to “wipe out the state’s public corruption watchdog, which is currently investigating corruption in at least one of the governor’s signature corporate subsidy programs.”

TPJ sent the complaint to both Lehmberg’s office and the Travis County attorney’s office.

A spokesman for the liberal advocacy group, Progress Texas, accused Perry of attempting to short-circuit the probe into CPRIT.

“Rick Perry wants so badly to halt ongoing grand jury investigations into CPRIT and perhaps other criminal inquiries that he’s willing to break the law to get it done,” said Glenn Smith. “It is illegal for Perry to blackmail another elected official unless that official does his bidding. That’s exactly what he’s done, and he may find that he is, after all, not above the law.”